Excerpts from Julian Castro’s Democratic convention keynote speech

Here are excerpts of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro’s keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. The excerpts were released by Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in advance of the 9:05 p.m. CDT speech.

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“My grandmother didn’t live to see us begin our lives in public service.

“But she probably would’ve thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in San Antonio, one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way – the good people of San Antonio willing-to the United States Congress!

“My family’s story isn’t special. What’s special is the America that makes our story possible.

“Ours is a nation like no other-a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation…no matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward.”

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“Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps…and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can’t do alone.

“We have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow.”

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“Now, like many of you, I watched last week’s Republican Convention. They told a few stories of individual success…we all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success. The answer is President Barack Obama.”

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“Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn’t get it. A few months ago he visited a university in Ohio and gave the students there a little entrepreneurial advice.

“‘Start a business,’ he said. But how? ‘Borrow money if you have to from your parents,’ he told them. Gee — why didn’t I think of that?”

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“We all understand that freedom isn’t free. What Romney and Ryan don’t understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it.

“Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too. Folks…we’ve heard that before.

“First they called it ‘trickle-down.’ Then ‘supply side.’ Now it’s ‘Romney/Ryan.’ Or is it ‘Ryan/Romney’?

“Either way, their theory has been tested. It failed. Our economy failed. The middle class paid the price. Your family paid the price. Mitt Romney just doesn’t get it.”

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“Four years ago, America stood on the brink of a Depression. Despite incredible odds and united Republican opposition, our President took action. And now we’ve seen 4.5 million new jobs.

“He knows better than anyone that there’s more hard work to do. But we’re making progress. And now we need to make a choice. It’s a choice…between a country where the middle class pays more, so that millionaires can pay less…

“Or a country where everybody pays their fair share. It’s a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts Pell grants…Or a nation that invests more in education. It’s a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas…Or a leader who brings jobs back home.

“This is the choice before us. And to me, to my generation, and for all the generations that will come after us, our choice is clear. Our choice is a man who’s always chosen us.